Tercera

Chris Barbin, the firm's founder and managing partner, leads investment decisions. Barbin previously co-founded and served as CEO of Appirio, a cloud services firm acquired by Wipro for $500M in 2016. His operating background in scaling services companies directly shapes the firm's deal evaluation and portfolio support model.

Tercera focuses on founder-led IT services, cloud consulting, and SaaS implementation firms that are generating between $10M and $50M in annual revenue. The firm avoids pure-play software companies in favor of services businesses with recurring managed-services revenue. Sectors of interest include enterprise cloud migration, AI consulting, and digital transformation partners.

Tercera typically leads minority growth rounds, taking board representation but leaving founders in operating control. The firm structures investments as growth equity rather than buyouts, with check sizes ranging from $15M to $40M depending on company scale and capital need.

Tercera runs an in-house operating resource called Tercera Talent, which places seasoned go-to-market leaders, COOs, and delivery executives into portfolio companies on a fractional or embedded basis. The firm views this as a structural advantage — providing services founders with the executive bench strength larger tech companies recruit more easily.

Tercera operates as a growth-equity firm, not a traditional venture capital fund. It targets profitable or near-profitable services companies with established revenue bases, rather than pre-revenue startups. The firm's first institutional fund closed at over $250M in 2022, with a mandate to invest across North America and Western Europe.

Before launching Tercera, Barbin co-founded and led Appirio, a cloud consulting firm that pioneered remote-work models for technology services delivery. Appirio grew to over 1,200 employees and was acquired by Wipro in 2016 for $500M. Barbin also founded an earlier services venture, cementing his reputation as a repeat operator in the IT services sector.

Yes, Tercera deploys capital across the United States and Western Europe. The firm's thesis targets regions with active enterprise cloud adoption and AI transformation cycles, where mid-market services firms face limited access to growth equity tailored to their operating model.